For most people it's not a matter of if, but when, they will lose some sense of hearing. Still, we don't give hearing loss or hearing aids much thought until it happens to us--or someone we know.

Only then do we learn that hearing aids are incapable of restoring hearing to normal, especially in acoustically challenging situations. The good news is that modern technology continues to bring us new, sometimes hidden, and often unknown features that can help those with hearing loss overcome more of their hearing challenges.

Juliëtte Sterkens, AuD, is an audiologist with forty years of experience in hearing rehabilitation turned consumer advocate with the Hearing Loss Association of America. She has published numerous articles and lectured internationally to consumers, audiologists, hearing instrument specialists, and venue operators. Topics include living well with hearing loss, hearing accessibility, and hearing loops. Her work has led to hundreds of hearing loop installations in Wisconsin. She has received numerous awards for her efforts, including the American Academy of Audiology Presidential Award. She serves on the board of HEAR in the Fox Cities, a non-profit that helps pay for hearing aids for children in North-East Wisconsin.

She enjoys gardening, traveling worldwide to observe solar eclipses with her husband, and visiting her family and son in the Netherlands and daughter in Australia. This talk was given at a TEDx event using the TED conference format but independently organized by a local community. Learn more at https://www.ted.com/tedx